Lies
by lanuitestcalme
Summary: Loki can feel the rifts in his relationship with his brother grow, but he cannot find a way to stop them. So he lies, falling back on old tricks in hopes to salvage what little he has left.


**Author's Note: This is my first attempt at Thor fanfiction, so let's just see how this goes. This is greatly inspired by Norse mythology, particularly in Loki's "voice" as a character, if that makes sense. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Thor, Loki, or the Marvel franchise. I own only the plot. **

It is hard enough to grow up in a royal household. Servants constantly get in your way, dusting everything they come across. Marriage proposals are a common theme of dinner-table discussions. Your father tries to teach you to become as noble as he supposedly is. Your mother deserts you, favoring theatres and salons instead.

It is even harder to grow up in an immortal, royal household. Especially if you feel out of place at every turn. Especially if no one in your family looks anything like you, at all. Especially if your brother, your only true friend, happens to be the epitome of perfection.

Such is the life of Loki Odinson.

"Loki!" comes a shout from outside. Sighing, Loki folds down the corner of the book he is reading and sets the tome to the side. He stands up, stretching his arms above his head. He is fifteen and gangly; he swears that his brother was never as awkward as this when _he_ was this age.

Loki leans out the window, brushing his hair from his eyes. Thor is there, directly in front of him, but Loki does not even flinch. He is so used to Thor's unexplainable actions, so he just looks at his sixteen-year-old brother with a smirk.

"Forget how to get down from your tree, brother?" Loki asks.

"No!" Thor insists. "I'm caught. My foot got stuck between two branches."

"And? Why should I care?" Loki asks teasingly. "I'm not the one who's stuck and will probably miss dinner tonight."

"Loki…" Thor groans. "Please, just this once. Get me out. You know magic."

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious, dear brother," Loki sneers. "Any other words of wisdom to add?"

"Get me out of here!" His brother shouts, reaching for Loki through the window. Loki draws back with a smile.

"Fine, but I want something in return," he bargains.

"Anything!"

"You have to promise to stop teasing me, brother," Loki says, praying that Thor will not prey upon him even now, for showing weakness. "For just one week. Fair?"

"Fair," Thor grunts. "Now get me down!"

Loki nods, hoping that his often-mercurial brother will keep to his word. He raises his hand, touching the bark of the branch closest to him. Uttering some choice words under his breath, the branches unwind from Thor's foot.

"Thanks!" Thor exclaims, but the words are barely out of his mouth before he is falling. Quickly, Loki reaches over the sill to grab for his outstretched hand, but his weight is so very great.

"I can't hold on!" Loki gasps, trying to keep a firm grasp on Thor's hand. His brother struggles for a handhold, but he finds none against the smooth wall.

And then Loki is falling, tumbling to his death.

Death, though, he thinks, should not feel so comforting. He opens his eyes, peering around at the grass and tree trunks around him. He looks down and lets out a little gasp when he sees Thor, his brother, his oft-savior, beneath him.

The man cushioned his fall, though it was his fault that he fell.

Loki leaps up from Thor's chest, kneeling beside him to feel for a pulse. He sighs with relief when he finds it there, faint in his wrist and stronger at his neck. He then brushes his hands along the whole of Thor's body, looking for injuries. Luckily, all he finds is a broken rib, which he quickly patches up with his magic.

Thor groans, and Loki gazes at him expectantly.

"Loki?" Thor asks, looking wildly around. "Where are you?" He struggles to sit up, rubbing his hand across his face. "Loki? Where…where…oh, if you're dead…if you're hurt…" he frets, his voice rising in desperation.

Loki cannot see him in pain for long, and he cautiously moves into Thor's line of focus. "I'm here, my brother," he murmurs. "And I'm fine."

Thor sighs, reaching for him. Loki goes to him obediently, letting Thor touch his arms and face to prove that he is real indeed, and alive. "Are you hurt?"

"No, Thor," Loki says patiently. "You, though, had a broken rib, but I fixed with my magic."

Thor closes his eyes calmly, blissfully. "I was so worried," he explains. "Not…not to mean anything against you, brother," he opens his blue eyes. "But you're so much smaller and weaker than I am. I…thought you might not survive…survive the fall."

Loki takes the insult in stride, for he knows that Thor says it with the best intentions at heart. "I am strong in ways which you are not, Thor," he replies, not unkindly. "But I must thank you all the same. I agree; I am less physically prepared for such a fall than you are. So now I thank you."

"It's nothing, Loki," Thor says with a nervous laugh. "I know how much you hate to thank anyone for anything!" Loki grants him a smile, silently agreeing.

"But…you see, Loki…" Thor continues, hesitant once more. "Last night, I had this dream, see…and…well…you died. In my dream, Loki, you died." He buries his head in his hands, his next words muffled. "I had to see if you were really still alive. So I climbed the tree. Of course, then, you yourself…you had to save me…"

Loki looks at him, and he feels his heart melting. Thor, who is usually so brash and joyful at everything, is feeling sadness. With a kind smile, Loki reaches for Thor's hands and pulls them away from his face.

"I'm here, my brother," Loki says strongly. "I'm real. I'm alive, as alive as you are."

"I…was just so scared."

"I've been scared before too," Loki is not afraid to admit. "It's alright, Thor. I'm here. You're here. We're both okay."

"Okay," Thor repeats. "Don't leave me, ever, Loki. Please."

"I will never leave you," Loki promises, though he knows in his heart that this is a promise that he will not keep. He knows that he is different from the other Asgardians, and due to this he knows that one day, he will have to leave. He will have to find others like him, for is that not what people have tried to do for centuries?

Thor stands, then, suddenly certain of himself as usual. He pulls Loki up next to him with the grace of a soldier practiced at war. The two brothers in all but blood turn to face the castle, all at once unfamiliar in their own bodies. Loki feels as if what he just felt a moment ago is totally separated from how he feels now. Before, he was pure, raw emotion. Now, he is simply his guarded, stoic self.

It as if nothing has changed.

But in reality, everything has changed.

For Loki has lied to his brother for the first time in his life.


End file.
